Enchanting Georgia Barn

A festive country home.

If you needed inspiration for seasonal decorating, you could walk into Boxwoods Gardens & Gifts in Atlanta and come out with a spirit full of enthusiasm and a head full of ideas. The same would be true of owners Dan Belman and Randy Korando's country house in the nearby historic town of Madison, Georgia.

The stable at Boxwoods.

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Pinecone Baskets

Even the stables are festooned for the Yuletide season. What could be a more fitting location, complete with a hay loft and enough room for a sit-down dinner, in which to celebrate the holidays in high rural style?

Narcissus in pinecone baskets and amaryllis.

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Tartan-and-Burlap

As a quiet retreat from their bustling business, Camp Boxwoods, as it is called, is also a welcoming canvas for the broad strokes of this industrious pair who relish the joys of decorating as much as the holidays themselves."It's the one time of year when you can be really over the top," says Korando. "Not glitzy, necessarily, but with drama and scale. I do believe in drama in decorating."

Wreath of magnolia leaves with tartan-and-burlap ribbon.

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Tack Room

That may be putting it mildly for a man who once hatcheted down an entire dogwood to replunk it on his dining table, wired to the chandelier and dripping with votive candles. "We do have high ceilings," he demurs, "but it was like the whole table was under the canopy of a tree." Another time Korando placed a huge hollow log down the middle of their table, and adorned it with moss, ferns, and votives. And then there was the extraordinary confection of white peacock feathers and twigs. "That's the kind of stuff I love to do," Korando says.

Entertaining is theater for this talented design duo. The grander the sets, the better. Some occasions even call for a change of stage altogether, as on wintry evenings during the holidays when dinner guests are summoned from the house to the stables for their last course. Lavishly decorated and romantically lit, a formally set table occupies the barn's central corridor. Outside and in, from ribbons to upholstery, tartan is the ideal choice for marrying old-world ambience and Southern hospitality.

Proper dining furniture is unexpected but looks right at home in the barn. English 19th-century table. Wing chairs, covered in a tartan by Moon, and side chairs, Boxwoods Gardens & Gifts. Blankets, Scottish Lion. Glassware, cutlery, and dishes, Boxwoods Gardens & Gifts.

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High Rural Style

For Korando and Belman, it's all about nature, and crafting it into exquisite and meticulously stylized arrangements that create an atmosphere of formal yet earthy elegance, for which Korando is unapologetic. "I like fussy," he says, "meaning I want things to be structured and tidy." Even in the barn. Or perhaps especially in the barn.

Antique French bibliothèque lined in tartan.

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Earthy Elegance

As it happens, the building was once a place of worship, donated to the rural community by the previous owner. By the time Belman and Korando bought the property 11 years ago, however, the congregation had decided to relocate. So Belman and Korando set out to create an inviting home for their five horses (three of which are rescued, including a set of twins that like to share a stall).

And what a home it is. Korando and Belman converted the simple, soulful structure into a charming Victorian jewel by raising the roof and adding a cupola and dovecote, gingerbread trim, and massive arched double doors. All the architectural elements were salvaged and repurposed, a favorite modus operandi of these avid collectors. And for these consummate hosts, it's the collection of memories that gives their country home a spirit of celebration all year long.

A refitted window frame provides Harley, a Tennessee walking horse, with a view of the pasture. Garlands of pinecones, cedar, and evergreens.

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